James Madison and His Contributions to our Government
James Madison was and is still regarded as the true father of the Constitution. His incredible mind and talent for politics have lead our country to become a great and strong standing nation. The man behind all of our policy and government was a humble and well manored man. His contributions to our united nation is nothing short of astounding and we owe everything we have now to him and his legacy. Life leading up to the Constitution James Madison was born in 1751 in Virginia.(National Bio) He was plagued with illness as a child and was a small yet serious young man. He studied with private tudors until he attended New Jersey University and was always studying to the point of exhaustion.(Brant) All his studies made him into one of the best minds living in America at the time. Later in the revolutionary times, he served on the General Assembly of Virginia, the Constitutional Convention and the Articles of Confederation Congress. Before the federal convention though, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Annapolis Convention. James Madison can also be seen in the forefront of the enlightenment thinking movment.(Brant) He was a Christian at heart and was very keen on the topic of freedom of religion. He mentioned many times the act of "religious toleration" and the idea of universal free rights. He also served under many of the other great minds of the revolution such as: Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Robert Morris. In his time as a virginia delegate he was very instrumental with Virginia's cession from the northwest. While in Congress, he came up with the idea of changing the Articles to make up for the national debt and the unpaid revolutionary army. In 1784, James was already known as the person who knew all about policy and federal affairs. All of his training as a politician and studies about government and philosphy finally lead up to his greatest achievement, the Constitution. James and the Constitution Madison didnt only research and do much preperation for the federal convention but he also went as a delegate for Virginia. He was also the cheif recorder of all the happenings at the convention and took a huge amount of notes. Along with his preperation, Madison drafted and "invented" the Virginia Plan, which was chosen as the basis for our governemnt to stand on. The federal convention was impressed that James had already drafted a plan for the new government even before the convention took place. James being a strong federalist, pierced the thinking of the convention with thoughts of a strong central government.(New York) He knew, based on the Articles of Confederation, that the new government needed a lot of power to succeed in unifying our new nation. James Madison advocated and proposed many ideas for the new government but was often turned down, but that didn't stop him because he took the stand more than 150 times to talk about our new government.(Heritage) He was part of many commitees that decided our governments future and despite being a small and quiet speaker was a powerful man in the convention. After the signing and writing of the constitution James took even more steps to found Americas Government. James Madison and The Federalist Papers James continued after the constitution was signed and began working with other federalists like Alexander Hamilton on The Federalist Papers. The constitution was not law yet and James Madison wrote many essays to pursuade the American people that a strong government was the right choice. These papers showed the flaws in weak governemnt and made very strong arguments that America needed and wanted a strong government.(Federalist) The papers were passed out in pamphlets and soon the American people were convinced that the constitution was the right thing to do. James Madison and His Service in the Government James continued his passion for founding America and served in the government. He served 4 terms in the House of Representatives in 1789-1797 and got the government on the right start. He also did his part in drafting and making sure the Bill of Rights was passed through the House of Representatives. He did work in the executuve office and started a system for federal taxation. He then went on to found the Democratic-Republican party with Alexander Hamilton. Later while under retirement, he write the Virginia Resolution and attempted to get rid of the Alien and Sedition Acts.(Heritage) Then after he was married, he served as Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State. Soon after, he became the next president and served during a time of european hostility, just like the presidents before him. James Madison did his part in making democratic attempts to solve the problems with Britain but nothing could be done and he entered along with America into the War of 1812. Regardless of our nation having no preperation for war, James Madison got us through what could have been a very bad resolution for America. James was tested many times but he always succeeded in making our country stronger. His presidential term ended with a time of great happiness and much power in the Democratic-Republican party. James Madison and His Political Views James Madison feared the faction, or a group of people that have ideas that take away the rights of other citizens and jeoparidize liberty, so he created a form of governemnt where representation took care of factions.(Heritage) The representation method makes the majority faction unlikely and even if a majority faction was made, the government had ways to protect against it that madison put in place. This fear of faction also created his views on Americas territory and people. Madison wanted and felt that the country needed a diverse and huge land, to protect agaisnt factions. Within a small society communication is very easy, which leads to factions being created but in a huge empire with many views, factions cant be created as easily. Even though Madison was an advocate for universal freedoms and self governing he still believed the people needed help. In Federalist 10 Madions writes, ' “refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice, will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.” ' He thought the people needed the representation to protect the citizen against the others.(Constitution) Madison's whole idea was to keep unjust and short lived ideas from becoming law or effecting the nation in a non-positive way. The idea that Madison had was for true communication between representatives and their people. A community is what keeps the representative on the path of the people but, also broadens the view of the communtiy as well. James Madison and Checks/Balances James Madison thought that the representation method would steer the country and its people on the right path but, he also saw that the government needed precautions just in case. So he created the system of checks and balances to keep the people at bay, but also have the peoples best interests at heart as well. These checks let the governemnt control itself and not let corruption and tyranny affect the policy of the nation. James wanted ambition to protect bad ambition in a sense. He designed the government to have power but have weaknesses as well. A well crafted machine can only work withought corruption, but James created a governemnt that even if corruption takes over, the governement can protect against the other branches. James Madisons main goal was to creat a governemnt that served the people, a governemnt that is non-oppressive. He succeeded in creating a balanced system, making our governemnt superior and long lasting due to Madsion's genius. Historical Significance America as it is today would not have existed without James Madison. His thoughts as a writer, politician, and servant of the governemnt were instrumental to our countries start. He shaped the way our political system works today and along with other founding fathers drafted the document that is the nucleus of our government. He also shaped the political views of America today. We are still being affected as a country by his federalist papers and his views on our country as a republic and free union. We owe all of our basic freedoms to him since he proposed the bill of rights into legislature. We also owe our freedom of religion to him as well. Without his constant writing and speaking on religion tolerance and freedom we wouldnt have our tolerant and free government that we cherish and hold dear today. Sources Brant, Irving. "James Madison." James Madison. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Encyclopedia Britanicca. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Sheeham, Colleen. "James Madison: Father of the Constitution." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. "James Madison." James Madison. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013 Banning, Lance. "American National Biography Online." American National Biography Online. N.p., Feb. 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Mitgang, Herbert. "BOOKS OF THE TIMES." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Sept. 1987. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Rosen, Gary. "The Federalist." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 July 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. Bruns, Roger A. "Constitution of the United States - A History." Constitution of the United States - A History. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. "Channeling Madison." ''James Madison. ''N.p., nd. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.